美輪明宏 - 全曲集

美輪明宏 is an enka and cabaret singer of the highest order. she is everything a drag queen enka/cabaret (they went hand-in-hand in the 1960s) singer should be; luxurious, dramatic, fabulous, and most importantly: long suffering. she was even romantically involved with the late, great 三島由紀夫 (Mishima Yukio) at one point. Mishima was very proud of his lady-boyfriend (lol wordplay), too, to the point that he insisted that she was a must for the titular role of the film adaptation of his play Black Lizard (which is a great movie, by the way. if you haven't seen it then you should really make a point to do so at once). they were apparently involved for quite some time, too (although, of course, Mishima's family denies any and all allegations about his homosexuality)(also, i've always found it odd that they were so involved, considering Mishima always emphasized the beauty of masculinity in his writings).

ANYWAYS, concerning the music here, it is very sensuous and incredibly ridiculous. at some points she will trail off from singing and go into long, dramatic, pained spoken-word rants. they are very intense monologues, and very convincing, too (which i guess is why Miyazaki Hayao has cast her in at least two of his films). the mood of the music can fluctuate very quickly, too. it's really thrilling.

i think my favorite track presented in this collection would have to be the final track. she really displays just how powerful her voice (and acting) is here. my favorite part, actually, is the monologue. she whispers and and grumbles at first, but then her voice rises to a scream of anguish and frustration near the end of the monologue.


1. 愛の讃歌
2. メケ・メケ
3. 人の気も知らないで
4. 水に流して
5. 毛皮のマリー
6. ヨイトマケの唄
7. ボン・ボヤージュ
8. 人生は過ぎ行く
9. ふるさとの空の下で
10. 黒蜥蜴の唄
11. ラストダンスは私と
12. ラ・ボエーム
13. 愛のボレロ
14. 喫茶店の片隅で
15. 花(すべての人の心に花を)
16. 老女優は去りゆく


ENJOY